I
In the still hours of the dawn the Greeks were startled from their
slumbers by a loud and fearful cry, which came from no mortal lips, but
from Eris, the dread goddess of strife, who had been sent down by Zeus
to give the signal for battle. The first to obey that awful summons
was Agamemnon; for this was to be his great day, and his heart was
aflame with the lust of slaughter. Springing from his couch he began
to don his armour. First he put on his greaves, which were made of
pliant white metal, with ankle pieces of silver. Then he took up his
corslet, with a glance of pride, for it was of choice and costly
workmanship, cunningly fashioned of thin strips or courses of metal.
Ten courses were of blue steel, and ten of gold, and twenty of tin; and
round about the corslet wound three serpents, wrought in divers
colours, like the rainbow, with their heads meeting where the corslet
narrowed at the neck. His sword glittered with golden ornaments, and
the scabbard was of silver, and the baldric of gold. On his shield,
which had ten circles of brass, were twenty bosses of white tin, and in
the centre a boss of blue steel; and it bore an image of the Gorgon's
head and the dreadful faces of Rout and Panic. Attached to it was a
silver strap, bearing the device of a serpent with three heads.
Glittering in this gorgeous panoply, brandishing two spears, and
raising his battle cry, Agamemnon rushed to the gates of the camp, and
placed himself at the head of his bravest champions, who were mustering
there with the flower of the Greek army, prepared for the expected
attack. They had not long to wait; hardly had they set their ranks in
order, when the Trojans appeared on the summit of the slope which ran
down to the shore. And like a star which appears and disappears on a
stormy night, when the sky is covered with scudding clouds, so
glittered the mailed form of Hector, as he ranged in and out among the
advancing columns, marshalling his men to the fight.
Then like two lines of reapers working together on opposite sides of a
deep field of wheat or barley, so met Greeks and Trojans on the plain
before the camp, and war's dread harvest began. None of the gods were
present, save only Eris, whose savage heart was glad when she smelt the
smell of blood. And Zeus sat apart on a lonely peak, looking down upon
Troy and the Grecian fleet and the two warring nations in the space
between.
Until the hour of noon the battle was waged with equal fortune on both
sides. But just at the time when a woodman in some mountain glen
breaks off his labour to prepare his midday meal, having wearied his
hands with holding the axe, the Greeks made a vigorous charge, and
broke through the Trojan line. Agamemnon fought in advance of all the
rest, and recognising among the enemy two sons of Priam, who had
formerly been taken captive by Achilles and let go for a ransom, he
slew them both, and stripped off their armour. And as a lion slays two
hapless fawns, while their dam, who is feeding near, flies sweating
with terror from the onslaught of the mighty beast, so the Trojans saw
their young princes slain, but were helpless to aid them, being
themselves hard pressed by the victorious Greeks.
Like a famished lion who has broken into a sheep-fold, and ravages the
flock, so fell Agamemnon on the huddled masses of the Trojans, striking
about him with sword and spear. Presently he had an opportunity of
gratifying his private revenge; for right before him, impeded by the
press, he saw the two sons of Antimachus, a Trojan who was bribed with
gold by Paris to oppose the restoration of Helen. There they stood
helpless, both together in one car, holding out their hands in
supplication, and begging him to spare their lives. "There is no mercy
for such as you," cried Agamemnon fiercely. "Did not your father, in
the hearing of all the people, advise the murder of my brother,
Menelaus, when he came on an embassy to Troy? Die, and pay for your
father's treachery." With that he thrust down one of them with his
spear, and the other, who turned to fly, he slew with his sword,
lopping off head and arms, and spurning the trunk with his foot, so
that it rolled like a log along the ground. Then, raising his battle
cry, he plunged into the thick of the fight, where the main body of the
Trojans were flying before the Greeks, horse and foot mingled together
in headlong rout. And as a fire sweeps through the dry brushwood,
borne onward by the wind, and leaving a black waste behind, so thick
and fast fell the Trojans before Agamemnon; and many an empty car went
rattling over the field, borne hither and thither by its affrighted
steeds, whose master was lying where he fell, until the vultures
assembled to the banquet at eventide.
Across the plain they sped, past the tomb of Ilus and the wild
fig-tree, making straight for the city, and as they came to the gates
they turned at bay, and waited for those who were still flying before
Agamemnon and the Greeks.
"Now haste thee, swift Iris!" said Zeus to the maiden messenger of
heaven, "and bear this message to Hector. As long as he sees Agamemnon
foremost in the slaughter, let him hold back, and leave the others to
stem the tide of war; but when Agamemnon receives a wound, as he shall
do soon, then let Hector take the lead again, and drive the Greeks back
upon their ships."
Hector duly received the message, as he was rallying his men to defend
their gates; and in obedience to the command of Zeus he retired from
the front, and waited for the promised relief. He had not long to
wait. Presently Agamemnon was assailed by Iphidamas, a son of Antenor,
one of the chief men of Troy, who charged at him, spear in hand, and
thrusting with all his force struck him full on the breastplate. But
the spear point was turned on the tempered metal, and Agamemnon,
seizing the shaft, dragged the weapon from his hands, and smote down
the tall champion with a blow of his sword. But as he was stooping to
strip the armour from the corpse, Coön, the brother of Iphidamas, crept
up to his side, and drove his spear clean through Agamemnon's forearm.
Though grievously hurt Agamemnon turned on his assailant, and cut him
down; and having thus avenged himself he still fought on, dealing havoc
among the Trojans with his spear and his sword, and with heavy stones.
But presently his blood ceased to flow, and his arm grew stiff, as the
wound began to close. Being now in dreadful pain, he could fight no
longer, and summoning his chariot he left the field, and drove at full
speed back to the camp.